A broad push for literacy is the focus of the Martin Luther King birthday celebration in Sonoma County over a four-day weekend, from Jan. 18-21.
Youth from schools all across Sonoma County are preparing for this event and will join with Sonoma State University's AmeriCorps members and community members in poetry readings, bookshelf building and book donations.
This year's effort features a colorful bookmobile that will be used to distribute the books which benefit children in Sonoma State University's Project SCHOLARS and COOL SCHOOL, and the literacy program of the Volunteer Center of Sonoma County.
SSU students who serve as mentors in the COOL SCHOOL academic after-school program are busily preparing eager young poets for a poetry reading at Barnes and Noble Bookstore on Friday night, Jan.18.
At this well-attended community event, children in grades 1-6 will read and rap the poems they have created in honor of Dr. King's life and work. Children will read from 6-8 p.m. and teens from the Youth Volunteer Corps will read from 8-9 p.m.
A community service event from 9 a.m - noon at Kawana School on Saturday, Jan. 19 will draw SSU students, teachers and community youth to sort and refurbish books from a county-wide book drive.
Luther Burbank Center is the site of the Sunday, Jan. 20 Martin Luther King Birthday Celebration, which features music, dance, art, and youth orators. AmeriCorps members assist with the younger children, bringing them on stage to sing "Happy Birthday" at the show's finale.
This year the tutors and mentors of the AmeriCorps Project SCHOLARS and COOL SCHOOL will join with youth and volunteers at Community Baptist Church in Santa Rosa for the "Day On, Not a Day Off" public information day held on the official day of the holiday, Monday, Jan. 21.
This year's service project responds to the literacy needs of the county. More than 4000 used books will be refurbished, and 90 desktop bookshelves made to foster reading programs in Santa Rosa schools. SSU AmeriCorps members will be leading the bookshelf building and book sorting, as well as preparing food for speakers, presenters, and community members who attend the event.
Since early December members of the Volunteer Center's Youth Service Advisory Council have been preparing for MLK Literacy Action Day. Barbara Fisher, a local literacy expert, facilitated training for the teens about Sonoma County's literacy issues. The 45-member group, representing 22 schools, then began a simultaneous literacy outreach project and book drive.
The teens handed out literacy brochures and collected books at their schools and by going door-to-door.
"This is sure to be a remarkable experience for everyone involved," said Jeff Zainer, youth coordinator for the Youth Volunteer Corps, which coordinated the service project with the Sonoma Regional Service Collaborative. "The best way for young people to learn about Dr. King's incomparable work is to get involved themselves."
Pamela Nirdlinger, AmeriCorps Promise Fellow at CIHS commended thededication of the students and teens. "This project affirms the philosophy of Dr. King, who said, "Everyone can be great, because everyone canserve."
For further information on SSU AmeriCorps program, call Pam Nirdlinger at (707) 664-2044 .
NOTE TO EDITORS: Sonoma County's African-American poet Marjorie Mann will be rehearsing poems with 5th and 6th graders at the AmeriCorps COOL SCHOOL at R.L. Stevens, 2345 Giffen Ave., Santa Rosa on Jan. 16.
